An Angel At NCIS
by ImaginaryGoddess
Summary: Gibbs knew from the start that there was something special about his new secretary, Evangeline 'Angel' Daniels, but what he didn't know was just how special she would become to not only him but his entire team.
1. Chapter 1

Gibbs knew from the moment he first read about her that she was special. Of course, on first glance at the pages sent to him by an old marine buddy he had leaned towards the special being more of the 'not quite all there' type of special. It wasn't that his buddy gave that impression of her, it was the fact that the man was a tough battle-hardened General and wasn't the type to use so many superlatives or emotive description.

General Wilson also most definitely wasn't the type to analyse someone psychologically – unless it was as an enemy or a soldier under his command but again that had more to do with their motivations and drives and not their feelings. It wasn't as if he was gushing about this woman, however, but there was a certain protectiveness and interest apparent that really perplexed Gibbs.

Very briefly, the idea that these papers were forged crossed his mind but was quickly dismissed. General Wilson had called him in advance to let him know this package was on its way. Gibbs wasn't sure now whether the package referred to the papers or the woman. Apparently, she was also on her way. To meet with him. To see if Gibbs would be willing to give her a job as her contract with General Wilson was done and he had no more work to offer her. Gibbs had to wonder, however, whether it was going to be her or himself who was the interviewee.

The papers indicated that at the end of each of her contracts, her boss at the time had added to this paperwork and sent her on to someone he trusted. To date she'd worked with a string of Generals and other military personnel over the past few years. Some names Gibbs recognised and again he was surprised that they would be the type of people to be part of this system. They were all good men – but not easily given to sentiment.

Forwarding a recommendation and someone's service record was one thing but this document was lengthy and detailed. It was like a manual on this woman's strengths and weaknesses and how to treat her well – how to keep her happy. It amazed Gibbs that the bottom line of this entire thing seemed to be the utmost importance of keeping her happy.

Keeping people happy was definitely not a priority for Gibbs. At all. He wasn't even sure if he was capable of such a thing. He wondered what Wilson had been thinking passing this package onto him. At the same time he felt a slight twinge of something not unlike pride to have been considered as this woman's next employer. Which of course was just ridiculous. He read the pages over and over, wondering what to do.

Two days later he finally showed the pages to Ducky.

"How remarkable." Ducky was fascinated.

"Why me?" Gibbs asked bluntly. "Does anything about me suggest that this is a good idea? And should I care?"

"Well, you're not talking about forever, Jethro. It's not like you have the need of a secretary dedicated to your team long term. However, you have been complaining about that backlog of paperwork that no-one has time to clear out. Sounds like a perfect solution. Her qualifications and references are excellent."

"What about the other stuff, Ducky? The rules? I don't do well with rules that aren't mine."

"Well, they seem to be more guidelines than rules, Jethro. Besides, from what I've read so far I think you could manage all of this. She's not an agent you are training." Ducky grinned. "Probably no need for head slapping."

"They're asking me to be nice. I'm not nice. I'm a bastard."

Ducky rolled his eyes and replied as patiently as he could. "They're hoping for nice. They're asking for fair. You can do fair just fine."

"Do I really want to be tip-toeing around some fragile woman for however long?"

"She hardly sounds fragile, Jethro. It seems to me that she's just a very nice young woman who is good at what she does and that she's made quite an impression on some people who are not easily impressed."

"Maybe."

"It can't hurt to meet her. Make up your mind after that." His friend told him.

"Yeah. Thanks, Duck."

He wandered out of autopsy and found himself heading down to Abby's lab. As usual there was that deafening cacophony of what she called music emanating from within. He turned it down as he walked in. He'd found that turning it right down instead of off – whilst achieving the same effect – tended to make her less annoyed. Not that Abby got annoyed exactly but still.

"Hey Gibbs! What's up?" The pigtailed bundle of cheer chimed up, not even bothering to turn around to see who it was.

"Can I get your honest opinion on something?" He began.

"No, those pants do not make your ass look big!" She declared, spinning around in her chair grinning.

"You been checking out my ass, Abs?" Gibbs grinned back.

"Of course! It would be disrespectful not to! So, what have you got for me?"

He handed her the 'manual'. "Read this and tell me what you think."

"Sure." She raised her eyebrows but sat down at her desk to scan the documents. He sat on a nearby table to wait.

A few moments later she raised her head. "Okay. First of all, I think she sounds cool. I especially like her name. Second of all, I think it's so adorable that all these hard ass Generals have gone all soft over her. Third of all, she's Australian and they rock! Are you going to hire her?"

"I don't know. These… uh… guidelines they're suggesting… don't you think that it would be a bad fit?"

"Are you asking if I think you'd suck as her boss?"

"Well, yeah! Maybe my style isn't quite…"

"Don't be silly, Gibbs. You're a great boss. Besides, this General Wilson is like a really old friend of yours, isn't he?"

"Yeah."

"Well, doesn't he know you pretty well?"

"I guess so, yeah."

"Obviously a lot of thought gets put into this whole passing on of the torch thing. So this Wilson guy knows what you're like. If he thought you'd be the wrong type of boss he never would have sent her on to you. He trusts you and with good reason."

"Thanks for the pep talk, Abs." Gibbs smiled.

"Gibbs! I'm serious! Look it says right here…" She pointed to a paragraph. "That in the past she had a whole bunch of really nasty bosses. She survived but these guys want to protect her from it happening again in future."

"I can be nasty." Gibbs told her.

"No, you can't." Abby told him cheerfully. "The nasty they're talking about comes from insecure bastards taking out their crap on her. Blaming her for things that aren't her fault and undermining her confidence. You'd never do that. So, no problem!"

"Maybe."

"You should at least meet her. Aussies are so cool."

Gibbs shook his head smiling. Maybe he would call Wilson back and agree to this interview. Couldn't hurt. Besides, he was starting to get very curious.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks, Goddaughter! I'm glad you're enjoying this so far! I agree that Gibbs would be an awesome boss – well, once you got used to his style of course – and as long as he liked you. Hehe. I'd probably be nervous and flustered and keep saying sorry all the time and he'd get really annoyed.

* * *

Entering the local coffee shop down the road from NCIS Headquarters a few days later, Gibbs scanned the small tables for the woman he had scheduled to meet here. He had no idea what she looked like but he had a feeling he'd know her when he saw her. He was right.

She stood, as if she too recognised him straight away. She wasn't particularly tall – maybe as high as his shoulder - and her figure was all curves. In a really good way. Not blatant but just really nice. She was particularly pretty with large hazel eyes framed by nicely arched dark brows and curly medium brown hair streaked with gold. Her lips were full and as she smiled welcomingly at him, her whole face lit up in a way that made him feel suddenly warm.

She looked too pale to be Australian but then she'd been in the States for a few years now at least and he had no idea what her ethnic origin was anyway. He'd guess at some kind of anglo-saxon and germanic mix. Her skin was nice though. It looked soft.

Even though Gibbs had noted her physical attractiveness, he doubted that it was this fact that had inspired such devotion in her former bosses. Yes, she was attractive but she wasn't completely stunning or overtly sexy. There was a slight self-consciousness about her that was apparent in her body language that made her seem vulnerable and very feminine.

As he neared her and she held out her hand to him, he annoyed himself by noticing the swell of her full breasts that became more apparent with the movement of her arm. He forced himself to raise his eyes to her own instead. Man, he thought to himself, DiNozzo is not going to be able to think straight if I hire her.

"Special Agent Gibbs?" Her voice – still with its Australian accent despite the few years she'd lived in the States – was questioning despite the fact that she obviously knew that she was greeting the correct person. As if she was second-guessing her instincts. Doubting herself.

"Yes, and you must be Evangeline Daniels." He was pleased that her handshake was firm and confident despite whatever other self-doubts she harboured behind those warm eyes.

"That's me." She smiled again. "I hope you don't mind but I ordered a coffee for you."

"That was very thoughtful of you, Miss Daniels." He replied as a waitress placed a steaming cup in front of him. He'd never actually drank coffee in this place before. It had always been strictly take out. It was a nice enough place and the lounge chairs they sunk into at her table were comfortable yet firm enough allowing Gibbs to maintain his dignity. The last thing he wanted was to be sprawled awkwardly across some lounge whilst trying to get a handle on what this young woman was all about.

"Oh, call me Angel." She told him, her lovely smile wide. "Evangeline is such a mouthful and Miss Daniels makes me feel like I'm back in catholic school and in trouble. If you don't mind me asking, what should I call you? I'm not sure how your salutation works… is it Agent Gibbs?"

Gibbs smiled. "That's correct. You can just call me Gibbs though if you want."

"Cool." She replied, reminding him that she was very much more of Abby's age group than his. She took a sip of the water that was in front of her.

"You're not having coffee?" He asked her suddenly amused that they were sitting in a shop that served almost nothing but coffee.

"I know it's terribly anti-social but I don't actually drink tea or coffee. Or alcohol actually."

"How come?"

Angel shrugged. "I don't really like it. The alcohol thing is more about retaining control though. I prefer to have my car on hand and be able to drive it whenever I need to. I don't like relying on other people to have my back if I can help it."

"Find it hard to trust people, huh?"

She considered this. "Hmm, not really. I'm not really sure how to explain it. I guess I just got let down by too many people when I turned 18 and first started going clubbing. I like being in control of when I can leave if things go south. I don't mean it to sound cynical but you can't always count on other people to take care of you. You have to be able to take care of yourself."

"True enough. And yet you have an instruction manual from a whole list of Generals who want to take care of you."

Angel laughed at that. It was a pleasant sound. "Ah, but I'm not relying on these referrals, Gibbs. I appreciate them – it means I've been ending up in jobs that I enjoy and working with good people. However, if necessary I can always just sign up to a temp agency. No offence but compared to Americans applying for the same types of jobs as I am, my computer skills alone blow them out of the water. I could still pick and choose a fair bit."

Gibbs noticed that whilst obviously confident about her skills she blushed a little when actually mentioning them. He guessed that she wasn't that good at selling herself in a normal employment interview. Which meant that the 'instruction manual' would be particularly useful as it had several Generals answering all the typical questions for her.

"It seems to me…Angel." He tried her name out. That would take some getting used to. It sounded to him almost like an endearment and the strangest thing was how comfortable it felt using such a cute nickname for her. "That this meeting is more about you deciding whether to pick NCIS over wherever else you could work, rather than me deciding whether or not I want you to work for me."

Angel blushed, fiddling awkwardly with a napkin. "Is that a problem?" She asked finally. "I mean I'm not assuming that you're interested in hiring me or anything but yes, I do feel like I have the ability to choose whether or not I accept any offered position. For most of my working life I haven't been so lucky – there are long periods of time where I was unemployed because I was afraid to risk going back to more potential badness…"

She broke off, and waved a hand as if it didn't bother her any more when obviously it still did to some degree. "Well, anyway, I assume you read all about that crap. My point is, that I've been extremely grateful for these past few years where I've been made to feel important and that I matter. To have these really amazing, powerful and confident military types actually care about whether I was going to be okay. Where I can confidently move onto the next job and know that the person I work for isn't going to be a complete bastard."

"I've been called a bastard plenty of times before." Gibbs warned her.

Angel grinned. "Oh, I've heard stories about you, Gibbs. And I'm not afraid. Wary, but not afraid." Her grin turned cheeky then and she almost giggled. "Apparently as long as I keep you supplied with plenty of coffee then I may just make it out of this whole shebang alive."

Gibbs almost blushed. She was teasing him. Testing him probably too. "Coffee is good – not that you'd know since you don't drink it." He raised an eyebrow.

"Please don't tell me that makes you biased against me?" She asked, her hand to her chest in mock horror. "I'd be so disappointed in you, Gibbs!"

He had to smile at that. She reminded him a little of Abby. He was certain that the two of them would get along brilliantly.

"I actually had a boss once," She confided suddenly. "One of the good ones, by the way, that told me that he never would have hired me if he knew I didn't drink tea or coffee."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he figured it meant that I wouldn't be constantly thinking about getting him a coffee if I wasn't grabbing one for myself."

"I suppose in your line of work you might get called on to make a few teas and coffees here and there."

"Yeah, most of the time I totally don't mind but sometimes I've found it annoying. Especially when I was working at a university and they wanted me to keep the coffee pot full at all times. How was I supposed to know when it got low if I never went near it?" She laughed. "Oh, and If the people I was working for weren't nice then I tended to make the tea or coffee badly so that they wouldn't ask me to do it again."

"Nice strategy." Gibbs approved.

"Bottom line is, however," She said seriously. "I have no problem with running errands – such as fetching coffee or whatever."

"As long as they ask nicely and say please?" Gibbs asked, more than a hint of sarcasm accidentally escaping.

She frowned. "No. They don't have to be nice. They have to deserve it."

"Deserve coffee?" Gibbs was confused.

"No, deserve respect. I don't expect you to understand me, Gibbs. And I'm not asking you to. Not even with the silly manual. Look, I'm kinda old school in a way. Respect your elders and whatnot. I'm 30 and I still have a tendency to treat my employers as if they're the adults and I'm the child. A habit the various Generals have been trying to break, by the way. I'm not assertive enough apparently. Part of all that – and it's a part of myself that I'm happy with – is that I like doing things to help people. Especially people I'm working for who do important and stressful work and that all this little mundane stuff I can do for them is one less thing that they have to think about. Probably seems pathetic to you."

"No. Not at all."

"The thing is, when I'm working for the wrong type of person it means I get treated like a doormat or worse. However, when I'm working for someone worthwhile it makes me…"

"Invaluable." Gibbs told her.

She relaxed and smiled again, her defensiveness dropping once again behind her self-deprecating style. "Hardly! More like useful and appreciated. I feel needed. It's just nice and nice is good."

"Yes," Gibbs agreed, thinking about how sweet she was and how he was starting to get a much better handle on why the various Generals were so devoted to keeping her safe. "Nice is good."

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	3. Chapter 3

Thanks for the replies! I hope you like the next bit too...

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They sat in comfortable silence for a while and Gibbs signalled for another coffee.

"So, are the people in your team nice?" She asked.

"I suppose so." He blinked. "Sure. Nice enough."

"What are they like? Like the people I'd potentially be working with."

"Well, I have three agents in my team. Also there's a forensic scientist and a medical examiner. Oh, and his assistant. Those are the main people you'd meet." He took a hearty slurp of coffee and sighed in contentment as the familiar liquid scalded its way down his throat. "So, the forensic scientist is a goth named Abby and she is most definitely nice."

"What type of goth?" Angel asked enthusiastically.

"Huh?"

"Industrial? Glitter?"

"Glitter?" Gibbs coughed. He couldn't imagine Abby having anything to do with glitter. "Definitely not glitter."

"I don't really understand all the categories myself – I don't even know why I asked." Angel laughed. "It has to do with which music they listen to and the clothes they wear… stuff like that. I had a couple of goth friends back home who tried to explain it to me once and obviously I didn't get it. I'm not cool enough to be a goth myself."

"Me either." Gibbs remarked causing Angel to nearly choke on her water at the idea of Gibbs in goth regalia. "Abby wears a lot of black, and metal. That's the best I can tell you. Wears pigtails and black lipstick. She sleeps in a coffin and has a fascination for all sorts of creepy things. Despite all that, she's really rather normal – apart from being extraordinarily cheerful all the time."

"She sounds great."

"Yeah, she is. The medical examiner is Doctor Mallard – we call him Ducky. He's British and is extremely well educated and well read. Unfortunately he also likes to share his extensive knowledge and anecdotes at every available opportunity and I'm afraid I often don't have the patience for it. He's a good friend."

"He sounds lovely. What about your agents?"

"There's McGee – he's a bit of a computer geek – plays an Elf Lord in online games or something if you can believe that. And once you meet McGee it won't be that hard to believe." He grinned. "Kate is a former secret service agent and I think you'll get along really well with her actually."

"And the third?" She prompted when he fell silent.

"The third is DiNozzo. My lead agent. And I have no idea what you'll think of him but I have a pretty good idea what he'll think of you." Fresh meat, he added silently.

She tilted her head appealingly. "And what's that?"

Gibbs took another sip of coffee. "Tony is a decent guy when you get down to it but he's also kind of a player. He dates a lot of women."

"And what does that have to do with me?"

Gibbs shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "I'm just saying that he'll probably hit on you. And that if you have a problem with him then let me know and I'll deal with it."

"He'll hit on me?" Angel looked genuinely puzzled. "Why?"

Gibbs was just as puzzled. "Uh, because he hits on every attractive woman that crosses his path?"

She blinked a few times and then burst out laughing. "You think this DiNozzo will think I'm attractive?"

"There is no doubt in my mind." Gibbs told her still mystified by her laughter.

She stopped laughing suddenly and looked at him. "Wait, does this mean that you think I'm attractive?" There was no guile in the question – just a genuine curiosity. A certain surprise. Then she blushed profusely when she realised what she'd asked.

Gibbs shook his head in amazement. Did the woman honestly have no idea how lovely she was?

"In a 'you're young enough to be my daughter but you're still very pretty' kind of way." He admitted, grinning.

She grinned back, pleased and flattered and still very surprised. "Wow. Thanks. I still reckon your DiNozzo won't hit on me though."

"Oh, I'd put money on it." Gibbs smirked. "But seriously, aren't you used to guys hitting on you?"

"Uh, no." She shook her head. "It doesn't happen that often. If ever. Well, except the ones who have drunk until I'm cute." She giggled.

"Ah, but those are the ones who are also drunk enough to have the courage to approach a woman like you. Otherwise they'd be too intimidated." He told her.

"Intimidated?" She scoffed. "By me? That's just silly."

"If you say so." Gibbs replied loftily, drinking more of his coffee.

"Anyway," She changed the subject. "What type of work do you need doing?"

"Mostly old case files. Closed cases that need paperwork to be completed. All the important stuff has been done. It's just the nitty gritty dotting of i's and crossing of t's before the documentation can be filed away properly. None of it is very exciting. Filing and stapling and chasing down of relevant papers that need to be kept with the case file. Scintillating stuff."

"I don't think I'd mind that." She mused. "Sadly, I can be type who likes making sure all the fonts are right and that the margins are the same. Short term I won't get bored with stuff like that. Plus there's that altruistic need I have to help out – imagine how great I'll feel knowing that everyone else won't have to do work they'd hate because I'm doing it for them."

"You are a very strange girl."

"You're just working this out now?" She stuck out her tongue at him. "Usually it only takes people the first ten minutes."

"I'm obviously not that sharp." Gibbs grinned, deciding there and then that he was definitely going to offer her the job. And that he was definitely going to make sure DiNozzo kept his hands off her. She was too nice to fall for Tony's casual charms and he'd be damned if he let her get hurt.

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Hehe


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for the reviews! I get worried that I'm the only one who will like this lol.

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"You are aware of the type of cases we investigate?" Gibbs asked Angel.

She nodded. "I'd mostly be dealing with it on paper though, wouldn't I?"

"There will be some rather gruesome photography in some of the files but to some degree I'll try to shield you from those – keep them separate or covered until the case you were working on was ready to be filed away. I can't promise that you won't see some disturbing things."

"I'll probably okay as long as it's not in my face all the time." She told him. "Besides, I've learned that you can get used to all sorts of things that you never thought you could deal with. I worked for a funeral director for about a year – not in the actual mortuary or anything but I was still exposed to things I never thought I'd be able to cope with and managed just fine." Angel shrugged. "Besides it's not like I'll have to examine any of the crime scene photos closely or anything, will I?"

"Nope. Just make sure all the required photos listed are in the file. If a case is particularly disturbing I can make one of my agents do that part for you." Gibbs replied. "If you were training to be an agent I'd be forcing you to learn to cope with things like that but if there's no need then I'd rather not expose you to more than necessary."

"Thanks, Gibbs." Angel smiled shyly as she drank the rest of her water.

"So…" Gibbs quickly drained the rest of his coffee. "You wanna come check out the place? Meet some people?"

"Really?" Her eyes lit up.

"Yes, really." He leaned forward seriously, making her giggle again.

"Okay."

Gibbs insisted on paying the tab of course. She accepted this with a pleased, embarrassed little smile – as if this was something she wasn't used to. This made Gibbs feel annoyed – not with her – but with the fact that this occurrence was so unusual to her. It really boggled his mind that men weren't falling over themselves to impress this sweet woman.

They walked back to NCIS headquarters together in companionable silence. He only just stopped himself offering her his arm, or putting his hand on her back to guide her. He had an almost overwhelming urge to protect her. He almost wished he were Ducky because the good doctor could get away with such chivalry and women thought it was adorable.

He was pleased at how delighted she seemed to be with everything in the NCIS building. He'd never really noticed all the details she pointed out. Sure he'd noticed that the décor was stylish and modern compared to the previous building NCIS had been housed in and he noticed all the high-tech security systems you had to go through to get into the building but beyond that it was just a place of work to him.

Gibbs decided to take her down to Abby's lab first.

"Does that hurt?" Angel asked him as he put his eye near the retina scanner that was required to operate the lift down to Abby. Then she grinned. "Man, I'm so dumb, obviously it doesn't hurt. I mean… that's gotta be pretty bright."

"You get used to it." He smiled at her. "First few times it's a bit strange."

"If I work here will I have to get that set up for me?" She asked, sounding a little nervous.

"Yeah, that and an ID card. The usual. Until that is done, I'd get someone to go with you if you needed to be elsewhere in the building." He patted her shoulder. "Don't worry it's not much more involved than getting your fingerprints taken."

"Sorry, I'm a bit weird about some stuff."

"Don't apologise. It's one of my rules." He smiled kindly at her. "We all have our little quirks. The key is to acknowledge your fears and the things that make you nervous and then face them."

"True. I'm working on all that. I've come a long way in the past few years. Been working on my self-confidence and assertiveness. Some days I'm good, other days I feel like I have a long way to go."

"If you don't mind me asking…" Gibbs kept his eyes on the numbers as the elevator descended. "How bad did it get?"

"With my evil bosses?" She asked. "Well, nothing illegal. Could have been a lot worse. Hmm, I'd say the most damaging was the woman boss I had that made me cry every day until my nose bled."

"Geez." Gibbs was horrified.

"It just messed with my head. She'd tell me to do something that was outside my area of expertise and she wouldn't explain anything. Then I'd finally somehow manage to get it done and then she'd change her mind about what she thought she'd told me to do. I just couldn't win. I don't actually remember all the crap she put me through but by the time she was finished with me I had lost faith in my ability to even type. The legal department at the university we worked at wanted me to take her up on harassment charges but I didn't want to."

Angel looked at the floor. "It probably seems incredibly stupid to you. To let someone get to you that much. I try not to feel too pathetic though because there was a male professor out on six months of stress leave because of that woman and another female professor who went through the whole mediation process trying to find a way to work with her and she ended up having to change to a different department because they couldn't come to a solution to the badness."

"I don't think it's stupid at all. It can't be easy to deal with constant psychological abuse especially when you were so new to the workforce."

"You're nice to say that." Angel shook her head.

"I don't really make a habit of being nice." Gibbs told her. "If there were professors who couldn't stand up to her then how was someone as young as you were supposed to cope with her abuse? She sounds like a nasty piece of work."

"No, not really. She was just like so many of the other evil bosses I've had – not really evil at all – just uncomfortable and insecure in their positions of power. Unsettled in their personal lives as well and needing someone to kick to make themselves feel better." She smiled up at him then, the slight sadness in her eyes melting away. "Something I don't have to worry about with you, Gibbs. I have absolutely no doubt that you are one hundred per cent confident in your leadership. That you're comfortable with your power and that you use it for…" Her voice turned mock dramatic. "…the good of mankind!"

Gibbs wrinkled his brow and shook his head in amusement. The doors opened and he hurried forward to turn down Abby's music before Angel went deaf.

"Abs!" He called out. "Got someone here I want you to meet."

She rolled out from behind her desk with a flourish. "Hi!"

"Hey Abby." Angel smiled, holding out her hand. "I'm…"

"Evangeline Daniels!" Abby called out enthusiastically, shoving herself away from the desk and rolling over to Angel via her desk chair to pump her hand. "I read your manual! It's so nice to meet you in the flesh!"

"You too. You can call me Angel for short if you want."

"Woah, just when I thought your name couldn't be any cooler!" Abby stood and turned to Gibbs. "We are hiring her right?"

"Actually…" Gibbs waved his hair airily. "I'm the one currently being interviewed. It'll be up to Angel if she wants to hire me as her boss. So far I think I'm making an okay impression."

Abby giggled. "How are your references?"

"Kind of ordinary." Gibbs replied sadly. "Apparently I have issues with authority."

"As long as it's not issues with your own authority then maybe I'll let you slide on that one." Angel teased. "We'll see."

"So where you guys headed to next?" Abby wanted to know.

"To visit Ducky, then up to the bullpen for the others."

"Say hi to everyone." She grinned. "I hope to chat with you properly sometime soon, Angel."

"Me too, Abby. I love your outfit by the way." Angel indicated the chunky buckled boots, short plaid skirt, black lace up top and leather choker. "Especially the boots!"

"Thanks!"

Abby grinned when she heard Angel whisper to Gibbs, their heads conspiratorially close as they headed for the elevator again. "Yep, definitely not a glitter goth."

Sitting back down on her chair and allowing herself a pleased twirl, she sighed happily because she knew that the new girl and Gibbs were already looking very comfortable with each other and there was no way in hell that either of them would turn down this working arrangement.

Gibbs was so cute when he liked someone. Not that Angel was the type he'd go for in a romantic way – she didn't have red hair or a fiery temperament or a slight leaning towards insanity for example – but it was nice to see her old silver-haired fox getting out and making some friends. She knew that Ducky would immediately adore Angel. So would Kate for that matter. As for Tony and McGee… Abby cracked up. They weren't gonna know what hit them.

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	5. Chapter 5

Hey gang! Thanks for the reviews... Angel/Gibbs huh? Not sure what's going to happen there... nothing is certain when my writing demon within gets involved... lol... here's the next part...

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Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo – or as he liked to refer to himself the Extra Special Agent – was seriously bored. So bored that he'd started singing songs about how bored he was. In his head of course. He had been singing them out loud but McGee had threatened to tell Gibbs that it was Tony who was responsible for the post-it notepad that was missing from Gibbs' desk drawer. Stupid tattle-tale Probie, Tony grumbled to himself as he drew various elaborate patterns on the top sheet of 'borrowed' post-its.

"God I am SO bored!" He complained out loud again.

"Tony, just shut up about it." Kate told him smugly. "Don't you have old case files to sort through?"

"I just know Gibbs is going to make me do this crap." Tony whined. "Why else would he have me organising these things? I know our case load is kinda light right now but… c'mon! He wouldn't make me do archiving! Would he?"

Kate just shrugged grinning. McGee pretended to look sympathetic but he was practically smirking. Bastards. Tony shuffled the files around on his desk half-heartedly sorting them into the various crime categories as Gibbs had ordered. God knows why – they wouldn't end up being archived in crime categories. Maybe he wanted the more serious crime files completed first? Maybe the petty crimes could wait longer to be archived? Who the hell knew. Only Gibbs knew and Tony wouldn't be surprised if the only reason was to annoy Tony.

Tony leaned back in his chair contemplatively. Maybe this was an exercise to condition Tony to do whatever Gibbs asked of him no matter how pointless? Maybe it was a sneaky little lesson. Or maybe Tony had done something to piss Gibbs off without realising? What could it be? Oh my god, what if he knew about the post-its? Or even worse…

"Probie! You didn't tell the boss about that website link I accidentally clicked on whilst I was busy doing important research?"

"No, he didn't, DiNozzo." Gibbs spoke up from behind him. "But you just did."

"Gah! Hey boss, how was your meeting?" Tony nearly fell off his chair and gave McGee and Kate a dirty look – they never warned him.

"It's still going, DiNozzo. And it wasn't a meeting so much as an interview."

"Interview? Like a suspect or a witness?" Tony perked up – maybe Gibbs had caught a case and he'd be saved from the dreaded archiving.

"No. Like a job interview."

"Huh?"

Gibbs moved further into the bullpen, indicating with his finger that someone should follow. As this person stepped out from behind the partitioning, Tony suddenly felt his chest constrict and his breath catch in his throat.

"Listen up, team. This is Evangeline Daniels, aka Angel." Gibbs announced. "She is currently deciding whether or not to hire me as her boss. Please do your best to make me look good."

She smiled then and Tony felt his mouth go dry. She was gorgeous. '5 foot 7 at most, 120 pounds,' he listed in his mind. 'Sun-streaked curly brown hair, full lips, soft bedroom eyes and oh, my god… look at all those curves and me with no brakes…'

Gibbs was introducing her to Kate. "Special Agent Caitlin Todd."

"Kate." Kate stood and shook hands with the newcomer. "Nice to meet you."

Angel indicated the cross Kate wore around her neck. "Catholic girl like me, huh?"

Tony only just forced himself from imagining them both in uniforms – well, okay he might have had a tiny peak at the image – as Kate smiled and fingered her necklace. "Yeah. You went to catholic school, too?"

"Only for high school."

"Special Agent Timothy McGee." Gibbs introduced McGee who had moved over to greet their guest.

"You can call me Tim…" He grinned, falling over his words slightly in his eagerness. What a doofus, Tony thought to himself. "Or McGee… whatever you want."

"How about Elf Lord?" Angel grinned back and then hurried to reassure him when he flushed slightly. "Which game? Something like Ultimata Online? I tend to choose the elven race when I've played Utopia in the past. I don't know if you've heard of that one."

"Yeah, it looks good but a little too time consuming." McGee told her, pleased that she most definitely wasn't teasing him about his hobby. "To play the way I'd want to would require logging in every hour and my workload doesn't allow for that."

"Neither do I." Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

Angel giggled and turned her attention back to McGee. "Oh, I so know what you mean. I'd be lucky to log in once a day - I'm not very good at that type of thing anyway. Strategy is not my strong suit. Plus I lack the patience." She confided. "I bet the whole strategy part is what draws you to these types of games. Tactics. Mental agility and whatnot." Angel seemed to get that Gibbs' patience was wearing thin and smiled. "And I guess we'll chat about all that later since Gibbs is about to nod off."

"Definitely." McGee smiled.

"And last but most definitely least… Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo." Gibbs shepherded Angel over to Tony's desk because for some inexplicable reason Tony had felt unable to stand.

A million pick up lines floating through Tony's head. Charming ice breakers and funny quips but nothing would come out. It was like his brain was shutting down.

"Hey." She said to him, her large hazel eyes locking on his and ridiculously his heart started beating really fast.

Gibbs was staring at him. So were Kate and McGee. Like he'd gone crazy or something. He had to say something. He had to get his shit together.

"DiNozzo?" Gibbs waited expectantly.

"Uh… yeah… hey… T-tony." What? He was stuttering now? Who was he, McGee? He shoved himself to his feet, almost knocking over his chair, and held out his hand. "How's it going?"

"Pretty good, thanks Tony." She took his hand and his brain couldn't choose between focussing on how soft her skin was or how her smile lit up her eyes. His eyes, however, were leaning towards focussing on her chest. Which was bad – her breasts were good but staring at them was bad. Bad, Tony! He forced himself to look at her eyes instead.

He felt almost like the overhead lights had dimmed when her eyes left his and she took in the case files on his desk. "Are these the files you were talking about Gibbs?"

"Yeah."

"You've been getting them ready for me then, Tony?" She paused and turned to Gibbs, sharing what seemed like secret grin with him. "I mean… potentially for me… If I choose to accept this mission and all that."

"Uh… yeah… I've been sorting them into the various types of crimes." Tony replied dumbly.

"Filtering out some of the bad stuff for me already? That's so nice of you!" She replied, smiling again and putting her hand on his arm briefly.

"Um, yeah… no problem." Confused and feeling like some poor sap in one of the trashy novels that Kate no doubt had hidden under her mattress, Tony could do nothing but smile stupidly back at her. What the hell was the matter with him?

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

Eventually, after Gibbs had shown the newcomer around the bullpen a little and explained some things, they wandered off to visit Ducky. Apparently he hadn't been around when they dropped by earlier.

Tony sat down heavily in his chair as the chatter started up around him.

"She seems really nice, doesn't she?" McGee was saying.

"Very nice." Kate agreed. "How weird that she's the one interviewing Gibbs? Not like him to be okay with that."

"He seemed to be enjoying it though." McGee pointed out. "If she decides to stay you'll be saved from the archiving, Tony."

"Yeah, saved by an Angel." Kate grinned.

They both cracked up and Tony just stared at them.

"What is with you, DiNozzo?" Kate demanded. "You are acting so weird. There wasn't even a hint of a lewd grin or innuendo lurking around ready to pounce on the poor girl. What's up with that?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Tony sniffed.

"Yeah, Tony… I mean she is a pretty girl, after all. And instead of being… well… you… you were like a shy, bumbling school kid…" McGee was enjoying this way too much.

"…and she was the hot new substitute teacher." Kate finished for him. They both cackled again.

"Don't you two have work to do?" Tony snapped as he started sorting through case files very efficiently. "I know I do."

McGee and Kate just snickered and went back to their desks still chatting about how nice this Angel person was and how they hoped she decided to stay.

Stupid pretty girl coming in and melting his brain, he grumbled to himself. Where was his mega-watt smile that he kept charged for the ladies? What had happened to his mojo dammit? The famous DiNozzo charm? Man, she was gonna get it when he saw her next. Pow! He was going to knock her socks off with just how devastatingly charming and handsome and witty he could be. Oh, yeah… she would swoon.

Stupid pretty girl.

Gibbs was grinning to himself as he and Angel headed back down in the elevator towards autopsy. DiNozzo had made a complete tool of himself. Not that Angel would have noticed since she didn't know what he was usually like.

"So, Tony doesn't seem so bad." Angel spoke up.

"Just give him time." Gibbs smirked.

They walked down the hallway and when they reached the doorway Angel hesitated. Gibbs noticed that through the windows you could see a body on the examining table.

"I'll get Ducky to come out here." He told her. He knocked on the window to attract the medical examiner's attention and crooked his finger at him. Ducky wandered out to greet them.

"Dr Donald "Ducky" Mallard." Gibbs told Angel. "Ducky, this Evangeline "Angel" Daniels."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, my dear." Ducky had removed his latex glove to shake Angel's hand warmly. "Mr Palmer tells me that I just missed you earlier so I'm glad that I made it back while you were still here. Are you enjoying your tour?"

"Very much." Angel smiled at him. "Everyone is really nice. Even Gibbs."

"I wouldn't go that far but I have been on my best behaviour." Gibbs told Ducky.

Ducky chuckled. It had been a while since he'd seen Gibbs in such a light mood.

"Sorry about making you come out here." Angel told Ducky.

"Completely understandable, my dear."

"No… I mean… I'm fine with there being a body there – even though I'm more used to seeing them in coffins and it's been quite a while. I just have this stupid idea that it'd be disrespectful for me to go in there when they're naked since I have no reason to be there." She paused, embarrassed. "Pretty dumb, hey?"

"Not at all." Ducky reassured her. "I have my own strange ideas as well."

"He talks to them." Gibbs confided loudly to Angel.

"Oh, so did I." Angel grinned. "Like when I had to go into the chapel to make sure everything set up for a viewing I'd be all 'Hey, Mr So and So, just checking stuff before your family arrives."

"You do realise that you're both just a little bit crazy." Gibbs told them.

"Only a little bit?" Ducky mused. "Well, I must be having a slow day."

"And obviously I'm not trying hard enough." Angel giggled.

Gibbs just sighed a long suffering sigh as Ducky and Angel grinned at each other proudly.

"Well, we'd better let you get back to it, Duck."

"It was lovely to meet you, Angel. I do hope I'll be seeing you again." Ducky shook her hand again.

Angel graced him with one of her smiles. "You too."

When Gibbs and Angel were back in the elevator he startled her by pulling the emergency stop.

"Woah." She looked at him warily.

"It's okay, I do this all the time." Gibbs told her. "I just wanted to ask you whether you're interested in the job."

"It's being offered to me?" She asked.

"Absolutely. I would very much like you to come join my team."

"Really?" Her eyes were wide.

"Really."

A slow smile spread across her face and it was Gibbs' turn to be startled when she flung her arms around him to hug him thoroughly. He recovered just in time to return the gesture briefly before she pulled away slightly flustered.

"I'm so sorry! You're probably not a hug type person – but I just couldn't help myself."

"It's okay." Gibbs grinned. The hug had been rather pleasant. "I take it that's a yes?"

"Yes! I'd love to!"

"When can you start?"

"This very minute if you want!" She laughed. "All my stuff is packed ready to be sent to wherever I ended up. I'm staying at a hotel not too far from here until I find an apartment. I'll probably look this weekend.

"I've got a much better idea." Gibbs had an evil glint in his eye.

"What's that?"

"Oh, you'll see." Gibbs replied airily as he restarted the elevator. "You'll see."


	7. Chapter 7

They returned to the bullpen, and the team snapped to attention as Gibbs had his business face on.

"Okay, people!" He barked. "Angel has graciously decided to help us out with our backlog of paperwork. Your job is to find her somewhere fantastic and reasonably priced to live while she is working here."

"What? Gibbs…" Angel looked worried.

"It's okay, Angel. It'll be a great training exercise for them. A chance to develop those investigative, communication and negotiation skills."

"Oh, it'll be good compared to most of the training exercises Gibbs comes up with for us." Kate reassured her.

"You'll still make the final decision, of course. The team, however, will do all the legwork part for you. All you'll need to do at the end is inspect their short listed properties and see if you're happy with any of them. If not they'll have to try again." Gibbs smirked.

"Well, I guess… if everyone is okay with it…" She frowned. "I kind of feel bad."

"Don't worry." McGee told her. "It'll be fun." He caught Gibbs' look and amended. "An interesting challenge."

"Here are the rules. Each of you must submit a minimum of three choices to Angel by 10 hundred Friday. All options must be available for inspection throughout the rest of the day. That gives you just over two days. You can go about this task in any way you see fit but you must be able to describe to me the process you went through to come up with your choices as well as the reasons. You may interview Angel as to her preferences but you may not involve her in the actual search until the end of this exercise. Any questions?"

"Is any collaboration allowed?" Kate asked.

"As much as you want, however, you must have your own short list in the end. The reasons behind and the results of collaboration will be taken into account when I'm calculating your scores."

"Can we enlist the aid of others as well?" McGee wanted to know.

"Yes. Real estate agents, other agents, anyone. As long as you can talk them into it." Gibbs furrowed his brow. "DiNozzo, you with us?"

"Yes, Boss." Tony jumped. "Price range?"

"Based on what she'll earn as NCIS clerical support."

"Winner takes all, Boss?"

"Takes all what, DiNozzo?"

"Never mind."

Gibbs wandered over to the divider under the plasma screen near his desk and unhooked it, indicating that McGee and Tony should move it away. They leapt into action and soon the main bullpen area was effectively extended, including the desk that had been behind the divider.

"For you." Gibbs told Angel.

Her face lit up and for a moment Gibbs thought she might hug him again. Which wasn't an unpleasant prospect but he wasn't sure how the rest of the team would react to such a strange occurrence. He wasn't exactly a huggable person for the most part.

She sat down and immediately went through the drawers, seemingly delighted by the supply of notepads and pens and post-it notes. He was enjoying watching her and it appeared that so was everyone else.

"C'mon, people! You've got work to do!"

They snapped into action. McGee stood up and headed straight for the elevator – Gibbs figured he was going to Abby's lab to see if he could enlist her aid. Kate started doing an online search. DiNozzo had gone for his phone and by the low tones of his voice and the lazy slouch in his chair it seemed apparent that he was charming some female realtor he knew into helping him out.

Gibbs grabbed some of the petty crimes pile from DiNozzo's desk and pulled his chair over next to Angel's new desk.

"I like the way you have your workspace set out." She told him.

"Yeah?"

"The way all the desks face inwards almost in a circle gives a real team feeling, like everyone belongs. And the way they all gather around your impressively larger desk…" She raised a cheeky eyebrow and Gibbs smirked. "…making it clear that you're the boss yet you're also in it with them. Part of the group rather than all aloof and above it as such. So as well as this whole group dynamic thing that's going on, you have an appropriate amount of space between everyone and because of the way the desks are facing you can work on your computer without feeling like people are constantly looking over your shoulder."

"Ah, but I AM constantly looking over their shoulders." Gibbs pointed out.

"Yes, but it doesn't FEEL like it." She grinned.

He shook his head in amusement. "I've never really thought about any of it in that much detail. Just seemed like a good idea at the time. Anyway, we keep our stationery in that cupboard. Not much there at the moment but maybe after a while you can look into increasing our stocks."

"Oh, you'll regret that." She laughed. "I LOVE stationery."

"I have mentioned that you're strange, haven't I?"

"Yep."

"I'll get McGee to show you the computer system and where all our documents are stored on it – in case you need to edit or reprint any reports etc. In the meantime, let me show you what needs to be done to complete a casefile ready for archiving."

"Sure." She pulled out a notepad and pen, ready to take down instructions as they went. "Gibbs?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for the apartment thing. You really didn't have to do that – I appreciate it."

"No problem at all. Happy to help and happy to keep my team occupied during some down time between cases."

"How long do these down times usually last?"

"Couple of days sometimes. Usually less. If we get a case in between now and Friday, we'll still work something out for you. Just might take a little longer."

"Oh, that doesn't matter. I can afford the hotel for quite a while yet. The military pays reasonably well and I've been living on bases here and there rent free for pretty much the past two years so for once in my life my bank balance is looking kinda healthy."

"Pity I can't say the same." Gibbs remarked wryly. "Been married too many times."

"Alimony?" She made a face as he held up three fingers. "Man, that sucks!"

"Yeah, it really does." Gibbs sighed, lost for a few seconds in memories.

She surprised him then by putting her hand on his arm briefly. He looked at her and saw her eyes full of something. Sympathy maybe? Understanding?

"I'm sorry they hurt you." She said quietly. So full of sincerity that he felt a very small catch in his throat which he ignored with great determination. How was it that she could care so much about someone who was practically a stranger? Very odd, but nice.

She released his arm and deliberately pulled open a file. "So, this all looks pretty straight forward."


	8. Chapter 8

It turned out that everything that Gibbs threw at her seemed fairly straight forward to Angel. She was more than meticulous enough with all the paperwork that she did to satisfy even Gibbs' idea of perfection. While she did seem to suffer from moments of self doubt from time to time she was very good at what she did.

He was enjoying her company and sometimes found it hard to put his cranky pants - as Angel had rather gamely called his attitude - back on whenever his Agents came back into the office. Like Abby, he was letting her get away with a lot - because she wasn't an Agent, because he recognised that she needed to feel safe to be open and herself with him and because any comments were obviously made out of some sort of affection and with absolutely no disrespect intended. Besides, when it came from the right sort as person he quite liked being teased.

The team was really enjoying the apartment hunting assignment. Angel was amused by all the attention. Her lessons with Gibbs in how the administration side of NCIS worked were often interrupted by impromptu interviews by Kate, Tony or McGee. Gibbs found that he was learning or lot about his new employee via these little chats and he often found himself getting her to expand on her answers once the current Special Agent doing the questioning had moved on.

Gibbs felt bad when late Thursday afternoon they caught a case. Angel had been getting quite excited about viewing the apartments on everyone's short lists so it sucked to have to postpone the end at the exercise. He also realised that he would miss just working in the office with her. Which was very unusual because he tended to go a bit stir crazy when they were between cases and he was stuck in the office.

He was thankful that he had spent as much as he had showing her the admin ropes because the case turned out to be quite complex and involved a hell of a lot of legwork. During the next two weeks he had barely any time to speak to Angel properly beyond answering a quick question or two but he was amazed at the way she just blended seamlessly into the team. Although Gibbs doubted very much that she'd ever make a good Agent - wrong personality for one - she was sure as hell was good at being support staff.

She picked up the basics of researching fairly quickly and seemed to have an admirable amount of patience for sorting through reams of mind numbing data to help the Agents get the information they needed. Plus there was the fact that no matter how random or brief their reappearance in the office might be she was often to be found pressing a much needed coffee into his hand and shoving packages of food onto everyone like a mother whose kids had forgotten to take their lunch to school. It was kind of nice feeling like someone was taking care of him and his team.

What he wasn't certain that he liked - or maybe he did - was the way she was like the kind, sweet mother offsetting him as the strict disciplinary father. She even tended to try to intervene – usually trying to diffuse the tension via distraction – when she felt like he was being too hard on one of the 'kids'. Gibbs knew that Angel was much more comfortable when things were pleasant and everyone was getting along but niceness didn't get him the results he needed and interfered with the ongoing training as his people. Since he now also considered her one of his people it also interfered with the training he had planned for her. Training that had been - consciously or unconsciously depending on the individual - begun by the various Generals.

Gibbs had much clearer ideas about what he wanted Angel to get from her time with him. Improving her confidence and ability to be assertive would be a good start. He'd have to tread more gently with her than he had with McGee for instance but he wasn't training her as a field agent so it all presented a different and interesting challenge. He wanted he to become a strong and self-reliant woman not unlike Abby and Kate but she tended to respect authority a little too much. A submissive habit that he intended to break.

She needed some toughening up as well. It irritated him the way she'd react when he went all hard ass on the team. Angel needed to understand that he wasn't like her old bosses of the past – the 'evil ones' before the Generals that is. He didn't just yell and put the pressure on because he felt like it – well, maybe occasionally he did – the team thrived under such pressure, constantly fighting to win his approval. If anyone started bowing under pressure like that then they weren't cut out for this line of work.

Gibbs supposed that he should give her more time to get used to his style. She was a smart girl. She'd work out soon enough that his agents were not being damaged at all by his tough love approach. Perhaps in time she'd be more resilient to such an approach used on her. For now, however, he knew he had to tread carefully. She had been hurt too badly in the past by the careless wielding of power over her for him to push too hard too soon.

Besides, it just seemed natural to treat Angel more gently. He didn't even have to think about it for the most part. He could yell at DiNozzo, slap him across the back of the head and the next minute turn to say something to Angel in a perfectly nice tone of voice. He did still really hate it when she flinched or seemed bothered when he was being bad-tempered with the others though. She really was too compassionate and sensitive sometimes – it was no wonder she had been such an easy target when she was younger.

As time went on and Gibbs became more frustrated with how the case was not progressing, she seemed to be much less inclined to tease him and worst still less comfortable in general around him. What was even more annoying was the fact that Gibbs had deduced that she'd been spending time with DiNozzo after hours. To some degree, Tony had recovered after his initial reaction to Angel but he still wasn't his usual self. It was like he was a kid on his best behaviour. It pissed Gibbs off.

What was worse was that Angel seemed to know that Gibbs knew. It was like she sensed that he was seriously disapproving of her hanging out with Tony and she didn't fully understand why. How could she? As his frustration with the case grew and his annoyance at the whole DiNozzo thing increased, Angel became more subdued. Which pissed Gibbs off even more.

Three weeks into the case and he just barely managed not to snap when she hesitantly suggested that she might go apartment hunting on her own after all. As it was, he supposed his tone was a bit brusque – but he'd promised her that he'd help her find a place and he didn't want to go back on his word. If only this damn case would come together. It wasn't even a particularly interesting case but nevertheless it was maddening that it seemed so impossible to catch a break.

So, yes… he might have been abrupt with her. Sounded annoyed even. That didn't explain why his team was looking at him like he'd just kicked a puppy. Or the fact that she had mysteriously suddenly needed to go to the bathroom. No matter how she tried to hide them, her emotions had played so readily across her features as she made awkward excuses to leave that he couldn't deny that he'd screwed up. Which made him even more irritated. At her and himself.

"Goddamn it." He huffed as he followed in the direction she'd gone, his team throwing concerned looks amongst themselves.


	9. Chapter 9

AN: Thanks for the lovely reviews, guys!

* * *

Gibbs ignored the startled look a woman exiting gave him as he pushed past her into the ladies room.

Angel was at the other end near the basins, her back to him and she was taking long shuddery breaths.

"Hey!" Gibbs managed to hide some of the annoyance in his voice.

She whirled around, tears streaking down her face. "What the hell are you doing in here?"

"Coming to talk to you."

"This is the ladies room, Gibbs!"

"I know that."

She was trying to keep her tears under control but was failing miserably. As Gibbs watched she completely crumbled.

"Stop that!" Gibbs insisted, feeling both irritated and guilty. "Come on now."

She turned around so her back was to him again.

He stalked over and turned her around. Hands on her shoulders, he put his face up close to hers. "Stop crying!"

"I can't stop just because you demand it!" She sobbed.

Not knowing what else to do, he pulled her roughly into his arms and held her, rubbing her back soothingly. It wasn't too long before her breathing calmed and her sobs quietened. Gibbs kept holding her close until she got herself under control. She gently pulled away from him, looking miserable and embarrassed.

"I didn't mean to snap at you just now." Gibbs told her. "I said I'd help you find a place and I meant it. But if there's a problem with the hotel or something…"

"No, everything's fine. I'm not in any big hurry – I just thought that it would be one thing off your mind…"

"Oh. Why did you get so upset? You know me by now. I'm not exactly the most tactful guy at times."

"And the case is pissing you off."

"Yeah, exactly! So why did you let one short comment get to you?"

"Because I don't get why you're so mad at me!"

"I'm not mad at you…"

"Yes, you are! Cos of Tony."

"Well, I did warn you about him and still you go off spending the night with him any chance you get! I was trying to protect you and you just ignored me!"

"Spending the night…" Her eyes were wide.

"Look, I know DiNozzo can be very charming when he wants to be…"

"Um… I've also been to McGee's place for dinner a few times – does that mean you think I'm having sex with him too?" She asked quietly.

Gibbs opened his mouth in shock. "What?"

"I mean is that what you think of me? That I'm some kind of slut?"

"What? No!"

"Yet you're assuming that the second Tony snaps his fingers I'm leaping into his bed."

"So you're not sleeping with him?"

"Even if I was, what business is it of yours? Agents might not be meant to date each other but he can fuck a secretary if he wants!" She yelled, tears spilling again.

"Hey…" Gibbs realised he must have really upset her badly for her to be so outspoken with someone she considered her superior. "Maybe I did leap to conclusions and you're right that it's none of my business."

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe he's just lonely and we both like watching DVDs? That it's a relief for him to hang out with someone who gets all his movie references? We talk about movies and I teach him to cook low carb to impress the next woman he dates who is obsessed with her weight and yes, he flirts with me but it doesn't mean anything. It's just nice and I don't know anyone else in this city but you guys…"

"And McGee?" Gibbs asked softly.

"We play computer games and he's teaching me Visual Basic – computer programming for word processing – and stuff like that. I've only been over to his place a few times – mostly when Tony has been on dates, if you must know."

"And that time you came to work wearing one of Tony's shirts under your jacket?"

"I was too tired to drive home so he made me stay over. In his bed and everything… of course, he took the couch. In the morning he cooked me the most amazing scrambled eggs and bacon. He loaned me a shirt to wear to work – an expensive one – which made me feel good since he's so anal about his clothes. Happy now?"

"Uh… yeah!" Gibbs smirked.

She tried to swipe the tears from her face. "Well, I'm not!"

"I can see that. What I don't get is why? Why do other people's opinions mean so much to you?"

"This is not 'other people'! It's you!"

"Me? What's the big deal about me?"

"You're just really cool." She sobbed.

"I'm cool?" Gibbs was thoroughly mystified.

"Yes!" She insisted. "But obviously you have no respect for me because I'm stupid and weak and… oh yes… a slut."

"Stop that right now! I never said anything like that!"

"But you thought it! You were wrong but you thought it! You thought I was some pathetic little girl – so desperate for attention and affection that I'd just let anyone have me! Even someone who clearly has issues!"

"I never thought that." Gibbs insisted. "You're a nice girl and I didn't want you to get hurt."

"A nice girl." She sneered. "Oh, that's fantastic! I feel so much better now."

"What? What have I said wrong now?" Gibbs threw his hands up in exasperation.

"Oh, I don't know! Maybe it was more than a little condescending! And just goes to prove my previous point. I don't have your respect. Maybe I never will. Maybe I should just give up and go somewhere else."

"You can't just give up and run away when things get hard." Gibbs told her seriously.

"You just can't stop with the condescension, can you?" She yelled. "Don't you get it! It's not about giving up! It's about not putting up with shit any more!"

"That's all well and good but it still doesn't mean leaving is the best option, does it?"

"I'm not going to leave." Angel sighed. "I like the people here too much – especially you. Which is why it sucks so much that you're so obviously disappointed in me."

"Disappointed is most definitely not the word I'd use. Far from it. I was just concerned. And I handled it badly, I admit. This case is just really pissing me off and I guess I took it out on you."

"And now you know that nothing is going on between me and Tony, you're all reassured? What happens if - god forbid - he and I got together? Would I be in the bad books again?"

"No, he would be. If he ever hurts you then I'll hurt him twice as bad."

"How very over-protective of you." She smiled slightly then. "Look, Tony is not the type of guy I date. He's the type of guy I fix."

"What about me? Do I need fixing too?"

"Yes but it would take a much stronger woman than I." She grinned. "And you have to want to be fixed."

"And Dinozzo wants to be fixed?"

"He's begging for it. All he needs is a little unconditional love and support from someone he's not sleeping with."

Gibbs blinked in surprise. He was impressed at her insight. Dinozzo was damn lucky to have a friend like her.

"So, we're good?" He asked her.

"Yeah." She rubbed his upper arm briefly, before turning to the mirror to check the damage her crying had done. "We're good."

As Gibbs was heading out the door, he paused as she said his name. Turning back he could see her reflection looking at him. "Yeah?"

"I reckon it was that Hobbs guy." She grinned, waving a hand in an off-hand way.

"What makes you say that?" He smiled back, enjoying the little game. Even though Hobbs had never really been on the suspect list. And had an alibi.

"He just gives me the heebie-jeebies." She shuddered. "Like big time."


	10. Chapter 10

AN: Thanks for the reviews, Silent Me, hotchner, Spirited Celebration, Rosie and as always thank you to my awesome beta, Mysfyt.

* * *

Tony waited the return of Angel and Gibbs anxiously. He knew she had been finding it really difficult with Gibbs being on the warpath. Tony himself was used to it. He knew Gibbs was pissed about Angel spending so much time with him. It made Tony grin because he also knew that Gibbs would probably assume that he was sleeping with her. Which of course did nothing but help his reputation. I mean who wouldn't want people to think that he was getting some of that? 

At the same time, however, he had a weird niggling feeling that it was wrong for people to think of her as just another one of his conquests - some moment of weakness on her part – because it wasn't like that at all. It was something… nicer. Special even. He actually found himself avoiding going on dates because he much preferred just hanging out at his place with Angel. How weird was that?

He could almost convince himself that he'd turned down that blonde knockout that had tried to pick him up in the DVD store because he didn't want to cancel on Angel but it wasn't that at all. Being with Angel was just the better offer. What could he say? She was just so damn nice! What with all the friendly hugs and gentle – and sometimes not-so-gentle – teasing, the fact that she had watched almost as many movies as he had, and she just made him laugh! And she laughed at his jokes – sometimes at him but in a nice way though – it was like he didn't have to try so hard with her. He could just be himself. Whoever the hell that was.

He wanted to protect her from Gibbs. Not that he really had to because the boss seemed to have his own soft spot for her. Which made Tony jealous. Jealous because she'd won Gibbs over with no trouble at all and jealous because Tony didn't really want to share her with anyone. Not that he had a choice about that. Angel got along really well with everyone and he knew she'd even been to McGeek's a few times. Stupid Probie. Abby and Angel were thick as thieves by now too and Tony figured it was only a matter of time until Angel was sucking down the Caf-Pow and going to Goth Raves or something. Either that or she'd be going to some weird-ass roleplaying convention with McGee.

Or even worse! All of the above! Plus working on the boat in Gibbs' basement! Going to church with Kate or something. Having girlie nights with manicures and pajama-clad pillowfights and… woah… what an image!

Tony shook himself. Kate was giving him a weird look. Damn, it was like that woman could sense dirty thoughts and fire back disapproval with alarming accuracy. He schooled his features into his best innocent expression. She snorted.

Seriously though, Angel hadn't been coping well lately with the whole Gibbs thing. Tony felt so bad about it since it was pretty much his fault but it wasn't like anything he said to Gibbs would make it better. And most definitely he wasn't willing to give up spending time with her just because Gibbs had a problem with it. Besides, it was only a matter of time before Angel moved on from him anyway. Problem solved.

She'd start spending more time with the others and he'd have more time to pick up his dating slack. Get some action. It'd be great. Wouldn't it? It's not like his future dates would be as lacklustre as the ones in recent weeks. So seemingly pointless. Maybe the next woman he slept with would care about how he felt. What he thought. Why was he even thinking about crazy stuff like this?

"What do you think he'll say to her?" McGee's voice came out of nowhere, interrupting his thoughts.

"How should I know, Probie?" Tony sighed. "It's not like he'll break his all important 'never say you're sorry' rule."

"You're worried that in order to regain Gibbs' approval, she'll stop spending time with you, aren't you?"

"No!" Tony snapped unconvincingly. "Don't be ridiculous."

"Don't worry, Tony." Kate chimed in, her tone half-way between mocking and supportive. "It's a pet peeve of Angel's when people end friendships based on the opinions of others."

"What?"

"Like when she was younger and some guys ended their friendships with her because their girlfriends couldn't handle it. She's still angry about it to this day."

"I wouldn't dump a friend just because a girlfriend wanted me to." McGee decided.

"You'd have to have a girlfriend first, Probie." Tony pointed out.

"Funny, Tony. And not predictable at all." McGee gave him a baleful look.

"When is Tony ever not predictable?" Gibbs asked as he returned to the bullpen.

Tony watched Angel carefully as she entered after Gibbs, slipping quietly into the chair behind her desk, diagonally opposite from Tony's. He mouthed 'are you okay?' to her and was relieved when she gave him a small smile and nod. Her eyes were red but she did seem to be okay. Maybe the magical – and extremely annoying - connection she sometimes seemed to have with Gibbs had worked in her favour and it really was all sorted out.

"So, we need to solve this damn case so we can get back to our training exercise." Gibbs was saying. "Recheck everything! McGee, Kate, I want everyone interviewed again."

"On it, boss."

"DiNozzo, I want you to focus on Lt Hobbs."

"Hobbs?" Tony raised his eyebrows.

"Yes, DiNozzo. I want you to see if there is even the possibility of a leak in his alibi. I want to know if he ever got detention in grade school. Parking tickets. Anything. I want to know what he eats for breakfast."

"Gibbs…" Angel was sort of blushing, Tony noticed.

Gibbs grinned at her. "With no other leads and weeks without a single break in this case, 'heebie-jeebies' are as good a reason as any to look closer at the guy."

Angel definitely did blush then and smiled softly at Gibbs. Stupid magic connection, Tony grumbled to himself.


	11. Chapter 11

Thanks hotchner and KLC! As for the season finale – woah! I won't give any spoilers away because my fellow Aussies haven't seen it yet. Let's just say that Mark Harmon is a FANTASTIC actor and I bawled my eyes out at several points.

* * *

Three days later, the team was walking across the park, heading for a little café for a celebratory lunch. It turned out that Lt Hobbs was actually their man and had been responsible for the string of attacks on navy women. Tony couldn't believe it. He never would have picked it in a million years. Not even Gibbs had picked it. 

Gibbs had decimated Hobbs in interrogation. Tony had quite enjoyed it because Angel had been watching with him in the observation room. When she got excited or anxious, she'd grab his arm. It had been very pleasant. He would of course have preferred that she was getting so worked up over his own interrogation style rather than Gibbs' but whatever.

Now the sun was shining and Angel was happy. She was in a silly mood which Tony thought was adorable. Gibbs was wearing an indulgent smile as well. They were all looking forward to chilling out and relaxing now that this case had finally been closed.

Gibbs' phone rang. "Gibbs."

Tony was trying to avoid being poked in the side by Angel. He was holding her hands as she giggled. Any second now he knew that Kate was going to join in and they'd gang up on him.

"Thank you for letting me know." Gibbs spat into his phone.

"What's up boss?" Tony asked.

"He made bail." Gibbs huffed.

"No way." McGee moaned.

"What does that mean?" Angel asked in dismay. "I mean… I get that he's out of jail but what happens now?"

"It means he's a free man until his case goes to trial. Goddamn it!" Gibbs shoved his phone back in his pocket angrily.

"And that could be months from now." Tony told Angel.

"Damn."

Tony watched her, deciding to give her a hug since she looked so upset but then he realised there was strange expression on her face and she was staring at Gibbs.

He turned to see what the problem was and there it was. A small red dot on Gibbs' forehead. The second the realisation entered his brain he knew it was too late but he cried out anyway. "Shooter! Get down!"

Whirling and drawing his gun in one motion he sought out the location of the shooter, brain shutting out the impossibly awful truth as he heard the gunshot. All that matter was catching the son of a bitch. McGee and Kate were by his side. He moved to protect Angel but realised she wasn't where he'd left her.

"There!" Kate yelled and fired. Into a tree. The shooter fell to the ground with a thud. Kate and McGee ran to apprehend him. Tony looked around for Angel and to finally deal with what had happened to Gibbs. God, not Gibbs.

What he saw was worse than he'd expected. They were both down. Gibbs and Angel. God. He ran to them, heart pounding. He couldn't see any blood.

"Boss, are you hit?" Tony asked breathlessly as Gibbs moved, his limbs intertwined with Angel's as she was lying half on top of him.

"I'm fine, Tony."

"Angel?"

"She crash tackled me. Angel… are you okay?"

Her hands shaking tremendously, she didn't respond. She just patted her hands all over Gibbs' chest, his hair, his face. As if checking to make sure he was really okay. Tony was jealous but relieved that she seemed fine as well.

"I'm fine." Gibbs was telling her over and over. His arms around her.

"Gibbs!" She wailed, bursting into a flood of tears.

Kate approached Tony. "It's Hobbs. I only winged the son of a bitch. McGee has him restrained. They okay?"

"Yeah. Could you run inside and grab Ducky?"

"For sure." Kate took off. Tony checked on McGee. He had Hobbs handcuffed and hogtied with his own shoelaces for good measure. Tony peeled off his jacket and wrapped it around Angel.

"Want McGee's jacket for your head, boss?" Tony asked because Gibbs was still lying on his back on the grass, arms wrapped around Angel as she wept into his shoulder.

Gibbs just gave him a look.

"Yeah… of course, marines don't need pillows." Tony shook his head.

Ducky wandered out and very quickly examined Hobbs' gunshot wound none too gently. The man cried out in a pleasing way. Determining that Hobbs should go to an emergency room just to get the wound stitched, Ducky quickly called for an ambulance. McGee and Kate would go with him.

"Everything okay here, Jethro?" Ducky asked with deliberate casualness.

"Sure is, Ducky." Gibbs replied cheerfully.

"It is not!" Angel yelled. "You were nearly killed."

"But I wasn't." Gibbs told her mildly. "You saved me."

"Goddamn! That means I'm responsible for you now!" She thumped his arm. "I'm too young to have to shoulder that burden! You're way too much trouble!"

Gibbs just chuckled as Tony and Ducky helped them both them to their feet. Tony noticed the way she didn't let go of Gibbs completely. He had a feeling it would be a while before she would.

"So…" Tony drawled as they made their way back to the office. "Guess we can finally find Angel an apartment now."


	12. Chapter 12

Sorry for the delay. Boris (writing demon within) lives by his own whims. Thanks for all the replies. Oh and btw, the good thing about fanfic is that it is not limited to the structure of episodes. This is more of a character study – well more a study of how each character reacts to this person I've stuck in their midst and what she can teach them or what they can teach her. Also it explores how you can have a still have a strange sort of bond with someone even when you technically don't have much in common with them. It's a weird little story – though less strange than the sequel (which is already longer than this) – but hopefully there are some people out there who are still liking it. Clearly Boris isn't done with it yet anyway.

* * *

All entrants in the apartment-hunting assignment did very well. Angel liked all the places and everyone pretended not to be impressed with each other's choices. McGee – who had roped in Abby to help him – had found a cool loft-style apartment with big arched windows. Kate and Ducky had found a cute little bungalow-style cottage with a lovely garden. Tony and his real-estate agent 'friend' had found a very hollywood style split level apartment with a sweeping staircase up to the bedroom.

The hollywood-style place almost made it as the final choice. Tony was so sure that it was perfect. It would be like living in a movie. Even though the others continued to bicker about it and defend their own first choices, they were starting to lean towards his as well. That was until they went to see one last place. Somewhere Gibbs had found. There was much howling about how they didn't even know Gibbs was participating since he was supposed to be judging but as soon as they saw inside they were all quiet.

It was in a secure building with underground parking and an extremely friendly yet overprotective doorman. The lobby was attractive and very clean. A short elevator ride to the fourth floor to a hallway with lush carpeting, the door to the place opened onto a polished timber floored foyer area with a small telephone table and coat stand. From there, there was step down to a nicely sized combined living/dining area off a friendly large kitchen.

The fact that it was already furnished was a huge bonus but it was when Gibbs grinned at Angel and flicked a switch by the door that really won the competition for him. The ceiling was painted a deep mauve and had small pinholes that allowed light to shine down through it as if the whole ceiling was covered in twinkling stars. And the stars did twinkle as each light flicked on and off in random patterns.

Gibbs explained that it had once been owned by a theatre set designer. He went on to detail the other more functional aspects of the apartment but Angel was still staring at the ceiling. She had clearly fallen in love. The rest of the team checked the place out and it was unanimously decided that Gibbs was the winner. Angel was delighted.

The necessary paperwork was completed and as they were leaving Gibbs quietly mentioned to Angel that the apartment was also much closer to DiNozzo's place than the hotel she had been staying in. She stared at him surprise and then gave him a playful shove, pleased that Gibbs seemed to be a bit more accepting of her friendship with Tony.

After all the excitement of the apartment hunting exercise and the moving of Angel's belongings and the housewarming, things settled back down. Gibbs continued to find more and more paperwork for Angel to do. She hadn't finished the archiving she'd been hired to do but that didn't matter. It was getting done and in the meantime he could use her skills for other projects.

Her intuition about the Hobbs case wasn't mentioned again but Gibbs did find himself noticing that other random comments she would make about a case tended to be strangely accurate. As much as he tried to write it off as being like how he trusted his gut, he knew she didn't have the experience that helped to hone such instincts. Mostly he tried to ignore it. He had a feeling she was trying to ignore it too – blushing whenever some really random thought popped out of her mouth. Brushing it off when that random thought ended up being relevant to the case.

Abby, however, was completely oblivious to anyone else's discomfiture and loved talking about it. If the subject did come up – and often when it didn't – she could ramble off the various times Angel had predicted something or sensed someone's mood or just known something she shouldn't have been able to. Angel just laughed it off. Another one of Abby's crazy conspiracy theories.

Gibbs found himself staring at the piles of archiving on Angel's desk almost every day. Watching them grow smaller, the number of piles decreasing. Every time she started to work on it, he'd also find himself suddenly demanding that she help McGee with research on a case or to go find out if Abby had results for him. He'd send her out for lunches or coffee or Kaf-Pow. Anything but making those piles smaller.

Tony had also noticed Gibbs distracting Angel from the archiving and did what he could to do the same. Gibbs even occasionally agreed when Tony asked if Angel could come with him to interview witnesses to 'take notes' even though it wasn't required. As was typical, no-one actually talked about it but most definitely no-one indicated for a second that they thought it was strange that Angel was being assigned all these extra duties that weren't entirely necessary. Tony most definitely wasn't complaining. He loved having Angel around anyway but he also loved having her help with some of the more boring research stuff. He found himself with more time to get bored and goof-off but hey, sacrifices must be made.

He grinned, watching his friend at her desk, head bowed over reams of telephone numbers and call logs, highlighting as she went. He had the other half. The others were out in the field. He didn't even whine when he got stuck in the office. This way meant more time to throw screwed up pieces of paper at Angel. He loved the way she'd try to glare at him before breaking down in giggles and starting an all-out stationery war. She didn't let him get away with shenanigans for long but it was worth it while it lasted.

The phone on his desk rang and Angel jumped, hands to chest, as if it had scared her. Which Tony found a little weird since there were phones going off in the office all the time and it wasn't like she'd been that distracted by the call logs surely.

"DiNozzo!" He snapped cheerfully.

"Antonio?" A woman's voice. Italian. His brow furrowed. It was Mike's mother. Mike was his best friend since childhood.

"Bella! Hey... wow, it's been so long since..."

She interrupted him. "Antonio... there's been an accident..."

His breath caught in his throat. "What kind of accident?" Angel's eyes were on him. She looked concerned.

"Michael... he was injured during a game." She told him. Mike played football professionally - in the minors but having the time of his life. He was even dating a cheerleader. Tony's hero.

"How bad?" Tony didn't think he wanted to know. He could hear it in her voice. Angel had pulled up a chair next to him. He thought she might be holding his hand but he couldn't focus.

He listened as Bella explained how Mike had sustained a spinal injury but they wouldn't know how bad until he woke up. If he woke up. The doctors weren't confident on either the waking up or the walking again part. It looked really bad. He listened as Bella cried down the phone. He said all the appropriate things to her – about Mike being a fighter and that everything would be fine – but it all sounded hollow to him. She promised to call him as soon as there was any news.

Angel hung up the phone for him because he had just put the receiver down on the desk. He heard himself telling Angel the news and that no, he would go to the hospital after work. Angel was saying that she'd explain to Gibbs if he wanted to go now but he waved her off saying everything was fine. He kept saying it over and over until he found himself in her arms. He ignored the wetness in his eyes, wanting to dismiss it as allergies. His chest hurt so badly but Angel's hands stroking his back seemed to help.

He pulled away after a while. "It's just a huge shock, you know?"

She nodded, her eyes filled with sadness.

"It's crazy to say this about another guy but I can't live without him. He's like closer to me than family. Known him my entire life and he just gets me. He knows me yet he still believes in me. You know?"

She nodded again, stroking his arm. He was glad she didn't say that everything would be okay. If she'd echoed what he felt were the meaningless words he'd said to Bella he didn't think he could take it.

He let Angel comfort him for a while. Allowed himself to fall apart a little. Then he took a deep breath and said they should get back to work. Angel just nodded but instead of going back to her desk she brought her pile of papers and highlighter over to his desk and they sat in companionable distracted silence until the others got back.

Tony knew Angel was watching him but he didn't feel like telling the others what was going on. Instead he jumped about the bullpen discussing the investigation with the team. He could see that Gibbs was getting irritated with him but he so didn't care. He wanted Gibbs to yell at him. He wanted him to smack him. He had just bent down to pick up the files he'd accidentally knocked off Gibbs' desk and was standing up again when he heard Angel cry out.

Tony whirled and saw her shocked eyes. Gibbs looked shocked too. Her hand went to her face and there was blood. From her nose. She sat down heavily on the floor. "What the hell just happened?"


	13. Chapter 13

McGee stammered. "Gibbs tried to slap you in the back of the head but Angel grabbed his wrist at the last minute..."

"So you smacked her in the face?" Tony yelled.

"It was an accident!" Gibbs yelled back.

"Got caught in the crossfire." Angel was laughing and crying at the same time.

"Kate, get Ducky up here." Gibbs ordered as he hunched down beside her, shoving his handkerchief to her nose. "McGee, get some ice."

Tony watched as Gibbs held his handkerchief to Angel's nose and McGee returned with ice wrapped in a handtowel. Gibbs must feel so bad. Tony couldn't believe that Angel had done that. Interrupted a Gibbs-slap. Wow.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Gibbs demanded, but his voice was gentle.

"I didn't want you to hit him!" Angel told him.

"Why not?" Gibbs asked, exasperated. "I head-slap DiNozzo all the time and you've never tried to stop me before."

"I didn't want you to hit him today!" She emphasised the last word.

Gibbs shook his head. "What's so special about today?"

Tony found himself speaking. "I think my best friend is gonna die."

"What?" Gibbs' voice was quiet.

"His mom called while you were out. He was injured during a football match. Coma. Might not wake up and if he does he probably won't walk again."

"God, DiNozzo... Sorry, to hear that."

Tony could feel Kate and McGee hovering in concern but he didn't really hear what they were saying. If they were saying anything in particular. He watched as Ducky arrived and checked Angel's nose. She was fine. Nothing broken. Gibbs was telling her that he'd drive her home but she was refusing to leave. Tony realised she didn't want to leave him. She could get stubborn about stuff like that.

Gibbs compromised by making her go lie down in Abby's lab. Abby kept a futon mattress tucked away for those all-nighters. He let Tony go with her. Tony was steering her towards the lift as she kept rambling to Ducky saying he had to make sure Gibbs was okay because it was totally an accident and she was totally fine.

Abby was horrified to hear what happened – both about Mike and about Angel getting accidentally smacked in the face by Gibbs. She helped Tony get Angel settled on the futon mattress in the corner and covered her up with a blanket. Angel's nose had pretty much stopped bleeding by now so Abby took the makeshift icepack from her and replaced Gibbs' handkerchief with some fresh gauze.

Tony sat down on the floor next to Angel. His back against the wall.

"You wanna talk about it?" Abby asked.

He shrugged as he stroked Angel's hair. She was already falling asleep – a little punch-drunk from the blow to her face. "What's there to say? I just have to wait and deal with whatever happens."

"A wedding." Angel mumbled.

"What?" Tony and Abby asked at the same time.

Angel barely opened her eyes. "Your mate's gonna get married...within the month."

"What?" They said again.

"His pocket rocket cheerleader..." She smiled sleepily. "...gonna be so happy."

Tony blinked. "So, Mike's gonna be okay?" He couldn't even believe he was asking her that. She was just half-asleep and half punch-drunk.

"Yeah. 3.16. Totally fine." She mumbled before drifting off completely.

"I wish I could believe that." He sighed to Abby. Then his brow furrowed. "I never told her about Mike's girlfriend."

"Footballer with a cheerleader... don't suppose that is much of a stretch." Abby mused, deliberately keeping it light. "Is she a pocket rocket, though?"

Tony smiled sadly. "Absolutely. She's tiny and full of attitude. Fiery. Just the way Mike likes 'em. Don't know about marriage though. He's not really the marrying type. He's only been seeing her a couple of months – I don't know if he's even really admitted to himself that he has an actual girlfriend."

He shared a few anecdotes about Mike with Abby as they both watched over Angel and then he went back up to the bullpen to distract himself with work. He totally immersed himself in call logs until his phone rang. At 3.16pm.


End file.
